Outboard motor mounting



Feb. 9, 1960 J. R; ELLIOTT OUTBOARD MOTOR MOUNTING Filed Oct. 31, 1956 INVENTOR.

-JOH/l/ R. iLLfOTT BY I I QWZ YSC- ATTURNflY M17 mm United States Patent OUTBOARD MOTOR MOUNTING John R. Elliott, Atlanta, Ga.

Application October 31, 1956, Serial No. 619,595 3'Claims. (cl. 248-405) This invention relates to an outboard motor mounting, and is particularly concerned with a mounting block assembly for supporting an outboard motor in vertical operative position'on the rim or chine of a standard type drum, tank or equivalent flanged supporting structure.

In the testing, cleaning, servicing and/or storage of outboard motors it is desirable to provide simple, rugged, durable and rigid means for supporting the motor in its conventional upright operative position. Racks and clamping devices for the storage, display and servicing of such motors in such position have been devised; however, for the most part, these structures suspend the motor independently of any tank or container in which liquid may be confined and by which testing may be accomplished under simulated. operating conditions where the propeller is subjected to the resistance of the liquid in which it is submerged. Not only is such submergence'of the propeller required for testing and tuning under operating conditions, but it is desirable to provide a mounting of this type where cleaning of the motor by the circulation of clean fresh water is indicated after the outboard motor has been run in salt water or mucky and polluted areas. It will, of course, be recognized that in testing these motors by submergence in fresh water there is extreme danger to the operator, and thus safety would indicate the necessity of submergence in a confined body of fluid. Furthermore, present day display and service mountings generally suifer from either failure of a rigid and durable support or from complications of structure rendering them difiicult of manipulation, easily rendered inoperative and costly to manufacture. It is also to be noted that such supports frequently involve overhung or displaced attachment locations in which the motor weight is not directly supported by a straight vertical thrust receiving element.

It is therefore among the broad and generic objects of the present inventionv to provide a novel, simple and improved outboard motor mounting which provides a rugged, durable and rigid securement of the motor in vertical operative position and arm mounting which is well suited to meet the demands of. economic manufacture.

More specifically, it is an object of the invention to provide an outboard motor. mounting adapted to secure the motor in vertical operative position at the flanged or beaded edge of a vertical support such as the rim or chine of atank or drum so that the propeller may be safely immersed in a confined liquid for testing and cleaning purposes without danger of injury to the operator.

Another important object of the invention is to provide a readily reversible mounting whereby the motor may be selectively supported either within a drum or tank for cleaning andtesting, or in a similar operative position externally of such drum or tank to facilitate servicing, adjustment or the like, and one by which the motor weight is received by a direct vertical support without overhang.

A further object is to provide a mounting including an arcuate construction by which the motor may be securely attached to an arcuate surface such as the upper edge of a circular drum or tank, the preferred arrangement including a groove or recess for receiving the upper terminal flange, bead or chine of such drum or tank.

Other objects include those of providing simple but rigid and secure attaching means easily operable without the use of special tools, and to provide protective means insuring against accidental abrasion and damage of the mounting, as well as providing a construction so designed as to be adaptable to circular surfaces having variations in are or regularity.

Numerous other objects, features and advantages of. the present invention will be apparent from consideration of the following specification taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the mounting as used for supporting an outboard motor upon thechine of a conventional steel drum.

Fig. 2 is an exploded view of the mounting of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a vertical elevation taken from the inner face of the mounting.

Fig. 4 is a horizontal cross-sectional view taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is arr-enlarged vertical cross-sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 3.

While various aspects of the present inventive concept may be carried out by a wide variety of structures and designs of combining components, that form of the invention here presented by way of illustration may be generally defined as including a grooved block, the groove of which may receive the flange, head or chine of a reservoir, tank, drum or other mounting member. In combination with the first mentioned block, a companion block is provided together with securing means preferably disposed between the blocks above the groove of the first mentioned block so that in combination: the blocks may be rigidly secured on the inner and outer faces of a supporting wall and without passing through such wall. To lend strength and rigidity to the assembly as well as to protect the blocks from wear, impact or deterioration, a cover plate of generally U-shaped cross-section engages the opposite outer faces of both blocks and receives the securing means therethrough. Inthe present preferred embodiment of the invention, the cooperating and confronting surfaces of the blocks are arcuate to adapt the assembly for engagement with the upper edge of a circular wall such as a standard steel drum. The opposite outer faces are fiat and parallel to receive and support the conventional mounting bracket of an outboard motor. By this construction the motor weight is delivered as a vertical thrust in direct alignment with the drum wall and without overhand and consequent turning moment.

Referring now to the drawings in. which one preferred embodiment of the invention is shown in detail, it will be seen that this form of the invention is designed for mounting an outboard motor generally indicated at 10 in vertical operative position upon the upper edge of 11 of a cylindrical steel drum 12. As is conventional, such drums are provided with a peripheral chine 13. In the mounting of the motor 10, its conventional securing bracket including a fixed inner plate 14 and opposed thumb screws 15 secure the same to the opposite sides of the mounting means of this invention. The shaft housing 16 and propeller 17 may thus be disposed in vertical operative position either within or externally of the drum 12. By thus mounting the propeller and shaft within a confined body of fluid the dangers of an exposed propeller are avoided and the operator may test the motor with safety.

The mounting of the present invention is best illustrated by the exploded view of Fig. 2. As there illustrated the assembly includes an outer blo'ck 20 which may be wood, plastic or any equivalent material; if desired the bloc];

may be of metal. The block 20 includes an internal concave surface near the upper edge of which is an armate groove 22 extending across the surface parallel with the upper flat face 23 of the block. For convenience the groove 22 is here shown as generally rectangular in crosssection; however, the configuration may be variously modified. Since 55 gallon steel drums are readily obtainable at low cost and since such drums are of standard curvature and have a standard type of lip, rim or chine 13, it is proposed that the more usual form of the present invention be formed to fit the curvature of such drums and that the groove be so formed as to receive the usual chine thereof.

- Since the groove 22 is downwardly spaced from the upper fiat face 23 of the block 20, it will be observed that when the block is mounted to receive the chine 13 there is provided an inner surface 24 adapted to extend upwardly from the drum and in an arcuate plane parallel with the inner arcuate plane of the drum, Below the groove 22 and the arcuate plane of the block as indicated at 25 is outwardly olfset from the plane 24. By such offsetthe lower surface of the inner face of the block will fit the external contour of the drum below the chine. The outer face 27 of the block 20 is fiat providing a sur face spaced from but generally tangent to the curvature of the drum and its chine.

For cooperation with the block 20 to secure the same in engagement with the drum chine, there is provided an inner companion block 30 the outer face of which conforms to the radius and curvature of the inner surface of the drum. The blo'ck 20 is of equal height to that of the block 30, and thus there is provided an upper area 31 adapted to abut the upper area 24 of the block 20 above the drum chine and a lower surface 32 adapted to engage the inner surface of the upper end 11 of the drum. The inner surface 33 of the block 30 is flat and extends parallel to the outer surface 27 of the block 20.

The upper portions of blocks 20 and 30 are formed with pairs of registering bores 29 and 39 which secure therethrough bolts 40 secured by nuts 41 to retain the blocks in drum edge engagement as shown. Thus, as the blocks are drawn together by the bolts and nuts the chine 13 is secured in the groove 22, the lower surfaces 25 and 32 of the blocks 20 and 30, respectively, engage the respective outer and inner surfaces to the upper end 11 of the drum While the upper surfaces 24 and 32 are held in contact above the chine.

In thepresent form of the invention, the securement of the blocks in engagement with the drum is assisted by an inverted generally U-shaped metal protecting and securing member 50, the upper cross portion 51 of the member extends across and engages the top surfaces of the blocks 20 and 30 while the outer and inner leg po'rtions 52 and 53 engage the outer face 27 of block 20 and inner face 32 of block 30 respectively. Since the outer face of block 20 is longer than the inner face of block 30, the ends of the inner leg 53 are cut away as at 54 to conform with the shorter length of the inner face of the inner block 30. Notonly does the member 50 protect the blocks from Wear, abrasion and deterioration due, for instance, to liquid contact and provide a smooth metallic surface for engagement of the motor bracket, but securement of the blocks is assisted by the passage of the bolts 40 through apertures 42 and 43 inthe upper portions of the legs 52 and 53. Preferably the outer ends of the block bores are countersunk as at 44 and 45, and the area of the legs adjacent the apertures 42 and 43 are depressed so as to receive the bolt heads 46 and the nuts 41. While various types of securing means may be employed, there is here shown a nut having a slightly conical shank 47 extending inwardly from'a generally flat flange 48 to minimize any protrusion of the nuts from the outer face of the receiving leg of the member 50.

With the mounting in place on the drum and the motor secured thereto as in Fig. 1, it will be seen that with water, cleaning fluid or lubricant confined in the drum, the motor may be safely tested against fluid pressure and the fluid will be pumped up through the cooling passages of the motor to flush out any sediment, salt deposits, or other foreign matter which might otherwise foul the motor. An important feature of the present invention is that the mounting provides for securement of the motor in vertical position externally of the drum in reversed position with respect to that shown in Fig. 2 to permit servicing of the motor from the outside of the drum. In either case the weight of the motor is received by the edge of the drum as a straight downward force.

It will of course be understood that in the practice of the invention numerous changes, modifications and the full use of equivalents may be resorted to without dc parture from the spirit or scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

v 1. An outboard motor mounting for supportnig an outboard motor in operative position including in combination a drum having a rim chine, an outer block having an inner face defining a groove conforming to the chine of the drum, and a companion inner block harving an outer face conforming to the inner surface of the drum adjacent said chine, together with means for unit- 1ng said blocks to engage a drum and its chine therebetween, said outer block and said inner block having substantially unobstructed flat outer and inner faces,

' respectively, lying in parallel planes.

2. An outboard motor mounting for supporting an outboard motor in operative position including in comblnatlon a drum having a rim chine, an outer block hav- 7 ing an inner face defining a groove conforming to the chine of the drum, a companion inner block having an outer face conforming to the inner surface of the drum adjacent said chine, together with means for uniting said blocks to engage the drum and its chine therebetween, and a U-shaped guard member enclosing both of said blocks, said guard member being secured to said blocks by said means for uniting said blocks, said outer block and said inner block having substantially unobstructed flat outer and inner faces, respectively, lying in parallel planes.

3. An outboard motor mounting for supporting an outboard motor in operative position including in combination a drum having a rim chine, including an outer block having an inner face defining a groove conforming to the chine of the drum, a companion inner block having an outer face conforming to the inner surface of the drum adjacent said chine, together with means for uniting said blocks to engage the drum and its chine therebetween, and a U-shaped guard member enclosing both of said blocks, both of said blocks having portions extending above the chine for receiving the uniting means therethrough, said outer block and said inner block having substantially unobstructed flat outer and inner faces, respectively, lying in parallel planes.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 910,785 Colton Jan. 26, 1909 1,982,728 Ebert Dec. 4, 1934 2,429,551 Hitzenrann Oct, 21, 1947 2,466,323 Meyer Apr. 5, 1949 2,731,224 MacDonald Jan. 17, 1956 

